Kirk MacDonald

Head Coach

Kirk MacDonald was named Royals Head Coach in May 2017 and is entering his first full season as the Royals Head Coach. Last season, MacDonald served as an assistant under Larry Courville and was named Interim Head Coach with three games remaining in the 2016-17 season, going 3-0-0-0. In the 2017 playoffs, the Royals bowed out in six games of the North Division Semifinals to the Brampton Beast.

This season is MacDonald‘s first as a professional head coach and fourth season with the Royals. MacDonald served as an assistant coach from 2014-17 and has made the Kelly Cup Playoffs every year he’s been on the Royals staff.

In 2013-14, he served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York.

As a pro player, MacDonald recorded 217 points (96g) and 358 penalty minutes in 406 games over seven-plus seasons. He played 272 of those games in the AHL and 24 Calder Cup Playoff games.

In the ECHL, MacDonald had two stints with the Royals and one was during the 2012-13 Championship season. MacDonald racked up 38 points (16g, 22a) and 57 penalty minutes during the regular season, then played every playoff game (22 GP, 4g, 8a). Two of MacDonald’s playoff goals were short-handed, one of which proved to be the game-winning mark in the series-deciding Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Cincinnati.

Prior to turning pro, MacDonald had a stellar four-season and five-year career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After leading R.P.I. in goals (16) and points (36)—and being selected the team’s MVP—in his junior season (2004-05), MacDonald was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which kept him out of action the following year. In 2006-07, MacDonald returned for his senior season, leading the team in goals (12) and tied for the team lead in points (27). For his efforts, MacDonald, who served as the team captain that season, was voted as R.P.I.’s Most Inspirational Player. That year, MacDonald received the Livingston W. Houston Citizenship Award at RPI honoring the ‘First Citizen of the College,” for character, leadership, scholarship and athletic ability and was also a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which is awarded to college hockey’s finest citizen.

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Patrick Wellar

Assistant Coach

A 2013 Kelly Cup Champion with the Royals as a defenseman, Patrick Wellar rejoined Reading as an assistant coach on June 13, 2017. He is one of three players in ECHL league history to claim the Kelly Cup Championship thrice.

Last season, Wellar served as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Cyclones. While in the Ohio Valley, he and Cincinnati Head Coach Matt MacDonald led the Cyclones to a record of 36-29-6-1 and a fifth place finish in the South Division of the ECHL’s Eastern Conference.

Wellar began his "formal" coaching career (he was a player-assistant the last two seasons of his career) with the Cyclones after completing a twelve-year professional playing career. He was a member of four championship teams, including the 2013 Royals when he and Kirk MacDonald were integral members of the Royals’ championship team.

A third-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2002, Wellar logged almost 750 regular season pro games, which included over 300 in the American Hockey League. Wellar played in six separate seasons with the Hershey Bears and won the 2010 Calder Cup (AHL).

Wellar also played 441 regular season games in the ECHL, which included two stints with the Royals. Wellar won his first championship in 2006 with the Alaska Aces. In 2008-09, Wellar began the year with the Royals playing twenty-five games with Reading (1g, 7a) before getting recalled to Hershey. After being reassigned to South Carolina, Wellar went on to claim the 2009 ECHL championship.

Wellar returned to Reading for the 2012-13 season when he played thirty-seven regular season games (2g, 13a), was recalled by Hershey, and returned to the Royals for Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cincinnati Cyclones. Wellar and his teammates knocked off the Cyclones in in five games. They did the same to the Stockton Thunder in the 2013 Kelly Cup Finals, ending the series in five.

Jason MacDonald

Head Equipment Manager

Jason is entering his third season with the Royals and has worked in hockey operations for more than a decade. Prior to joining the Royals, the Detroit, Michigan native spent time in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, serving as an Assistant Equipment Manager. Before his time in the NHL, he served as Head Equipment Manager with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades for Three Seasons, as well as working in the Central Hockey League with the Fort Worth Brahmas during the 2005-06 campaign. From 2001-05, Jason worked as an assistant equipment manager for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

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Sean Berberich

Athletic Trainer

Sean is in his second season with the Royals. Prior to joining the team, Berberich came Clinton, South Carolina where he worked at Presbyterian College with the men’s soccer team and men’s baseball teams. He has also worked with the Washington Capitals (NHL) and the Charlotte Checkers (AHL). Sean was previously awarded the Citizen Leader Athletic Training student award during his time at Longwood University. He graduated in 2013 with his Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and earned his master’s degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion with a specialty in
Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention in 2016.

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Adam Wood

Video/ Analytics Coach

Adam Wood (41), hails from Lancaster, PA. In 2016-2017, he served under Larry Courville and Kirk MacDonald as an intern video coach with the Royals while finishing a master’s degree in Education and Coaching through Millersville University.
Wood is a high school history teacher at J.P. McCaskey High School where he currently coaches the boys’ soccer team. He is also the current head coach of the Bantam American Lancaster Firebird team.

As a player, Adam played three years of junior hockey with the Philadelphia Generals (1994-1997) in the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League. He served as team captain his final season before attending training camp with the Fort Worth Fire of the Central Hockey League in 1997. Wood currently resides in Lititz, PA with his two daughters, Hannah and Caroline.

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Terry Denike

Goaltending Coach

A former Reading Royal, Terry Denike has been the team’s goalie coach since the 2014-2015 season.

Prior to his coaching career, Terry played five seasons of professional hockey and made his pro debut with the Reading Royals during the 2003-04 season. He spent the following two seasons in the SPHL, reaching the league finals with the Macon Trax in 2004-05 and again with the Florida Seals in 2005-06. Terry was recognized as the Team MVP and the SPHL Goalie of the Year in 2005-2006, when he set a league record for wins (28). In 2006-07, Terry returned to the ECHL and reached another championship series by helping the Dayton Bombers advance to the Kelly Cup Finals. The next season, Terry had the opportunity to play for the Reading Royals again and decided to finish his career where it had begun. Terry was named the team’s Community Service award winner that season.

Prior to playing professionally, Denike played for the Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 1998 to 2001. During his junior career, he helped his team reach the league finals in 1999-2000, and then win the 2000-2001 league championship Membercare cup. The same year, his team won the Anavet Cup (vs. Manitoba League Champion) and as a result, qualified to compete for the National Championship Royal Bank Cup. Terry was presented the 2001 SJHL Goalie of the year, Team MVP and Community Service award.

Terry accepted a full scholarship to NCAA Division I Lake Superior State University (CCHA) and was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the 5th round of the 2001 NHL Draft. In 2003, Terry attended NHL Training Camp with the Los Angeles Kings before signing a two-way contract with the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) and Reading Royals (ECHL).

Terry is now a pillar in the Berks County hockey community. He runs his own business - an elite goaltending school that he established in 2011, the director of youth hockey at Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex, and the goalie coach for several youth travel organizations in the area.

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Melanie Sowa

2017-18 will be Melanie’s 4th season. Whether her clients are elite athletes, take part in sports socially, or someone who spends all day in an office or a car they will benefit from her massage treatments. Melanie’s objective is to improve quality of life by relieving pain from the body and soul. She started out at a fitness center where she began building her client base and now owns her own Business, Melt Massage in West Lawn, Pa. She has been in business for five years. Her modalities include Deep Tissue, Sports, Bamboo, Hot-Stone, Ashiatsu, Therapeutic, Remedial, and Relaxation Massage. She also teaches at Berks Technical institute. She was born and raised in Berks County and currently resides in Shillington, Pa.